Salty Lemons

screenshot of Vik Muniz in "Waste Land" on Netflix from my 2011 archive

March 25, 2011

"Waste Land"

I have been a fan of Vik Muniz since 2007 when I saw his exhibition, "Vik Muniz: Reflex" at MoMA PS1. A friend of mine knew his work and thought I would be interested, she was right. He is the kind of artist I describe as clever. He uses a range of materials such as: chocolate, sugar, diamond dust, trash, peanut butter and jelly, toys, floor sweepings, and spaghetti and meatballs to speak about social conditions.

Last summer/fall, a documentary about one of his projects was playing at a few independent theatres around town. The Swede and I kept saying to each other, "Let's go, let's go." We never did and regretted it. We put it into our Netflix queue straight away and waited. It was recently released and even better is available on Netflix's "Instant View."

We finally watched "Waste Land" (while we played The Settlers of Catan because we are serious about our multitasking). It is powerful in its content. In terms of its creativity as a documentary, it has room for improvement. I would have liked to see more of the making of the artworks. Nonetheless, the story of the "pickers" is moving and speaks of dignity in the face of abject poverty.

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